Just finished up with my clutch system and getting ready to work on the rear brakes. I was going to put the alternator back in with new rubbers then I thought maybe I'd better check to see if I'm better off leaving it out to work on the rear brakes. It doesn't look like there is any advantage to leaving it off. Anybody done this have any advice?

Not fun or easy to get out. No need to leave the alternator out for working on the foot master cylinder. One thing that I will recommend is to make the bleed hole a tiny bit larger. I used the smallest torch tip file that I had. If you do a search you will find many posts on this issue of that hole getting blocked up.

Not fun or easy to get out. No need to leave the alternator out for working on the foot master cylinder. One thing that I will recommend is to make the bleed hole a tiny bit larger. I used the smallest torch tip file that I had. If you do a search you will find many posts on this issue of that hole getting blocked up.

Thanks for reply! Someone posted a photo of them replacing theres and it looks like a lot of work. My brakes were very neglected and in bad shape. I'm expecting this to open a can of worms. If I dont have to replace all the pistons I'll be very happy.

You should be able to diagnose if it's your master cylinder or the calipers. To diagnose which one it is:

1. Put cycle on center stand
2. Put a small jack under the engine to lift the front wheel slightly off the ground
3. Rotate the rear wheel by hand - from what you say above it should be dragging
4. Crack the rear bleeder open and then close it.
5. Try rotating the rear wheel again
6. If there is no change your problem is the caliper. If it now rotates freely it's the master cylinder.
7. Same goes for the front - if it rotates hard first crack the bleeder on the left front caliper. If it's free now it's the rear master cylinder. If not, move to the right front. Crack the bleeder - if it rotates free it's the front master cylinder. If not, it's the caliper.

I just went through the pain of removing the rear master cylinder and didn't follow the above list. If I had I would have figured out it was the rear caliper and the right front caliper sticking, and not the rear master cylinder. I got to remove my entire exhaust system and the caliper for no reason...

You should be able to diagnose if it's your master cylinder or the calipers. To diagnose which one it is:

1. Put cycle on center stand
2. Put a small jack under the engine to lift the front wheel slightly off the ground
3. Rotate the rear wheel by hand - from what you say above it should be dragging
4. Crack the rear bleeder open and then close it.
5. Try rotating the rear wheel again
6. If there is no change your problem is the caliper. If it now rotates freely it's the master cylinder.
7. Same goes for the front - if it rotates hard first crack the bleeder on the left front caliper. If it's free now it's the rear master cylinder. If not, move to the right front. Crack the bleeder - if it rotates free it's the front master cylinder. If not, it's the caliper.

I just went through the pain of removing the rear master cylinder and didn't follow the above list. If I had I would have figured out it was the rear caliper and the right front caliper sticking, and not the rear master cylinder. I got to remove my entire exhaust system and the caliper for no reason...

Awesome thanks Scott. Will run down your checklist. One thing I am questioning though is the rear master cylinder itself. Cleaning it out and rebuilding this isn't a problem. But from what I understand the proportioning valve is built into the rear master cylinder and isn't serviceable. Being a linked system it seems pretty important that the proportioning valve is working like it should. What are your thoughts about it?

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